Colleagues:

We are facing a carpeting question and feel like we are about to re-invent the wheel. I hope to benefit from your collective experience. We have cork floors, original to the building, which we would like to put carpet over in one gallery. However, we do not want to remove the cork nor do we wish to glue the carpet directly onto the cork. We seek two things:

1. A conservationally sound substrate to place between the cork and the carpet.   Recent suggestions include Medex (which seems too thick), Louon (which I have probably spelled incorrectly, and we are uncertain of its conservation quality), and sheet aluminum (not sure how noisy it might be or how to attach it to the floor).  

2. A conservationally sound carpet glue. (tack strips have been suggested, but with tack strips you need padding, and padding has to be glued, too, or else it gets lumpy) 


If neither of these exist, then what is the closest possible thing? We have built in time for off-gassing.  We keep finding that conservators can easily tell us what *not* to use but it's more difficult to figure what is safe to use.  

We are also leaning towards carpet tiles instead of broadloom carpet which will be stretched, since cases are sprinkled throughout the gallery (approx. 1000 sq. ft, total) and we like the idea of being able to replace one or two tiles due to wear and tear rather than having to replace a very complex room-full of carpet on occasion. Any comments or warnings? 

Thanks,

Jill R. Chancey, Curator
Lauren Rogers Museum of Art
PO Box 1108
Laurel, MS 39441
(601) 649-6374
www.LRMA.org
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